The first cross-platform Beta version[s] of XBMC Media Center for Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and Xbox have now been released in preparation for an upcoming stable release, code named 'Atlantis
Xbox Media Center Media Center? I'm sorry, but when I see XMBC I think Xbox Media Center in my mind. Its use isn't ubiquitous enough that people have forgotten what it stands for.
I should add that this story is anecdotal. While it is based in truth, the details (the numbers) were made up.
Re:One thing I have noticed
on
Tech Vs. Business?
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· Score: 4, Interesting
In other words, since I was not running around all day fixing things it meant I was not doing anything. He never saw the preventative maintenance and testing that I performed that kept it running well.
That doesn't only apply to IT. I heard a similar story about the maintenance staff at a manufacturing company.
Back in the 80s the president of the company went on an unscheduled tour of the plant (a very rare occasion). While on the tour he comes upon two maintenance workers standing by their tool carts having cups of coffee and chatting.
Furious that the two workers weren't fixing something at that particular moment the president asks, "What are you doing?"
One of the maintenance workers replies, "Well, the line is running perfectly, and since it's running we have to wait until the operators go on break to do any preventative maintenance."
The president of the company then goes back to his office with a great idea to save some money. Since these two maintenance workers are standing around, he clearly has too many of them. So he proceeds to fire half of the maintenance staff.
Ten years later, the board of directors notices that the profits are decreasing substantially. So, they fire the president and hire a new one. After 6 months the new president has to make a report to the board. This is what he found:
We noticed that our sales went down so we performed as survey and that indicated that our sales were down due to a perceived decline in quality of our product.
We also noticed our manufacturing costs have grown exponentially in the past ten years.
After speaking with some of the foreman and the manufacturing engineering staff, it appears that the uptime of the line has declined. Ten years ago, the uptime was 92% and today it's 63%. Additionally, the majority of the tooling can no longer produce parts within the designed specifications, sending the scrap rate up to 42%. This means that our plant is only 37% efficient. They all cite a lack of preventative maintenance as the cause.
It appears ten years ago, the president of the company fired half of the maintenance staff. As a result, not all of the preventative maintenance was performed as required. This decision has saved us, $500,000 on average annually for the past ten years. However, due to the increase in the scrap rate, the quality control department has increased their inspection staff. This has cost the company $500,000 on average annually over the past ten years.
This decision to cut back on maintenance has cost the company 1 billion dollars in down time last year alone. This figure does not include the decline in sales, and increase in warranty claims, and scrap rate due to lower product quality. In total, this decision has cost the company 10 Billion dollars, last year alone.
In order to get this company back to where it was ten years ago, the entire production line will have to be retooled. This has been quoted out by several companies, and is expected to exceed $900 million.
Even with these changes, the damage that has been done to our company's reputation is irreparable, and we may never recover.
Except that the source couldn't have been more than 11 billion light years away (No distortion from intergalactic hydrogen) and the particle horizon is 13.6-13.9 billion light years away. Plus the fact that it faded away after about 100 days would seem to indicate it was some kind of event, not just an object.
Start taking the classes now, and get yourself a job at the local H&R Block, or Jackson Hewitt. It's a great way to make some extra cash on the side. The best part is, it only lasts for 4 months! You get to have the summer and fall off to work on your new house.
If you get sick of working for the man, you can start your own tax service and take your clients with you.
The beauty of independent contractors is, when somebody says, "that person used to work for you," you can say, "no they didn't," and not be lying. Technically, they aren't on your payroll.
Will you be arrested for discussing the game with your friends over the water cooler?
Here in Chicago, baseball fans fly a white flag with a "W" on it whenever their team wins. Does this constitute a copyright violation since it essentially broadcasts the results of the game?
The Chicago Cubs won over the St. Louis Cardinals 3 to 2.
[knock knock]
Hang on, someone is at the door.
Who is it?
The Copyright Cops
What's this about?
Descriptions of games are copyright of Major League Baseball. I'm afraid you'll have to come with us.
You bring up a good point about redundancy. In order to have one copy of my data on this system someone else needs to donate an equal amount of space. But the article says:
That is an amount of data equivalent to six versions of the original file
Therefore, someone else would have to donate six times as much data as I need stored. For this to break even I would have to donate 86% of my hard disk to backup 14% (including system files that probably don't need to be backed up). I don't think people will go for that.
What worries me more is that the company may try to keep themselves in business through some sort of pyramid/Ponzi scheme (I don't know which one relates better to data) because people are unwilling to donate that much of their drive space.
Tungsten, with its high melting point, good strength at elevated temperatures, and low neutron absorption is very attractive from technological aspects, but building an entire reactor from it will hurt your bank account.
Precisely my point, steel is cheap because it's low strength at elevated temperatures makes it easy to work with.
To develop and test a material for nuclear applications is a very expensive procedure
What makes you think this 'Super Steel' won't need to be certified from the ground up? They are changing the composition to give it different properties. Those new properties mean you will have to throw that data you already have out the window.
Once the steel was exposed to all that heat it was only a matter of time before it failed.
So called "fire-proofing" only buys time anyway. Even with the "fire-proofing" in tact it was only a matter of time before the structure failed. Although the extra time it provides is critical, as it gives firefighters a chance to put out the fire.
Unfortunately, your link is to a story with a date so it won't work.
Yeah, I know. It was unbelievably difficult to find that story, let alone one without a date (I had to use the date to find the story).
It would be kind of amusing to see the headline "Stock Market Slashdotted", but I'm also afraid some people might think I was acting in malice, and try to throw me in jail.
You aren't the only one. If you want something that can retain it's strength at high temperatures, don't use steel. I recommend some sort of engineered ceramic, like tungsten carbide (which I believe is what you meant).
The article seems to ignore the fact that engineers see steel becoming weaker with heat as a benefit. If steel was always super strong at any temperature, how would you make anything out of it? Engineers currently utilize the "irregularities" (we call them dislocations) in steel to manufacture things. One such process is known as work hardening. When certain materials, like steel, are formed (bent, rolled, etc.) at low temperature, the dislocations propagate and move. The dislocations interact with each other, like tangling up a ball of yarn, making the material stronger. The component can then be heated to make further manufacturing easier, or left in it's cold worked state to make the finished part stronger. This property of steel is utilized around the world to make very strong, and inexpensive parts. A variety of other heat treatments are available to perform similar tasks.
In summary, the thermal properties of steel are considered a asset, because it allows us to manufacture things with high strength inexpensively. Using a material that is strong at all temperatures will increase costs. Such materials do exist but steel isn't one of them.
Disclaimer: If you find anything above factually incorrect, I was a C student in material science.
Slashdot Mirror
The first cross-platform Beta version[s] of XBMC Media Center for Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and Xbox have now been released in preparation for an upcoming stable release, code named 'Atlantis
Xbox Media Center Media Center? I'm sorry, but when I see XMBC I think Xbox Media Center in my mind. Its use isn't ubiquitous enough that people have forgotten what it stands for.
Even for Windows issues. Everyone is very helpful.
I should add that this story is anecdotal. While it is based in truth, the details (the numbers) were made up.
In other words, since I was not running around all day fixing things it meant I was not doing anything. He never saw the preventative maintenance and testing that I performed that kept it running well.
That doesn't only apply to IT. I heard a similar story about the maintenance staff at a manufacturing company.
Back in the 80s the president of the company went on an unscheduled tour of the plant (a very rare occasion). While on the tour he comes upon two maintenance workers standing by their tool carts having cups of coffee and chatting.
Furious that the two workers weren't fixing something at that particular moment the president asks, "What are you doing?"
One of the maintenance workers replies, "Well, the line is running perfectly, and since it's running we have to wait until the operators go on break to do any preventative maintenance."
The president of the company then goes back to his office with a great idea to save some money. Since these two maintenance workers are standing around, he clearly has too many of them. So he proceeds to fire half of the maintenance staff.
Ten years later, the board of directors notices that the profits are decreasing substantially. So, they fire the president and hire a new one. After 6 months the new president has to make a report to the board. This is what he found:
We noticed that our sales went down so we performed as survey and that indicated that our sales were down due to a perceived decline in quality of our product.
We also noticed our manufacturing costs have grown exponentially in the past ten years.
After speaking with some of the foreman and the manufacturing engineering staff, it appears that the uptime of the line has declined. Ten years ago, the uptime was 92% and today it's 63%. Additionally, the majority of the tooling can no longer produce parts within the designed specifications, sending the scrap rate up to 42%. This means that our plant is only 37% efficient. They all cite a lack of preventative maintenance as the cause.
It appears ten years ago, the president of the company fired half of the maintenance staff. As a result, not all of the preventative maintenance was performed as required. This decision has saved us, $500,000 on average annually for the past ten years. However, due to the increase in the scrap rate, the quality control department has increased their inspection staff. This has cost the company $500,000 on average annually over the past ten years.
This decision to cut back on maintenance has cost the company 1 billion dollars in down time last year alone. This figure does not include the decline in sales, and increase in warranty claims, and scrap rate due to lower product quality. In total, this decision has cost the company 10 Billion dollars, last year alone.
In order to get this company back to where it was ten years ago, the entire production line will have to be retooled. This has been quoted out by several companies, and is expected to exceed $900 million.
Even with these changes, the damage that has been done to our company's reputation is irreparable, and we may never recover.
Except that the source couldn't have been more than 11 billion light years away (No distortion from intergalactic hydrogen) and the particle horizon is 13.6-13.9 billion light years away. Plus the fact that it faded away after about 100 days would seem to indicate it was some kind of event, not just an object.
Ok, ok, I admit it. I didn't RTFA.
That's what happened the last time a civilization constructed a 14 TeV large hadron collider! I need some protection. Where's my tinfoil hat!
Or worse, it's a wormhole looking at ourselves in the near future.
It's so far away, that it's light finally reached earth.
In other words, it was beyond the particle horizon and now it's not.
Start taking the classes now, and get yourself a job at the local H&R Block, or Jackson Hewitt. It's a great way to make some extra cash on the side. The best part is, it only lasts for 4 months! You get to have the summer and fall off to work on your new house.
If you get sick of working for the man, you can start your own tax service and take your clients with you.
I think the term is ex-CIA *Asset*... or at least that is what they say in all the spy novels.
It's in the DoD dictionary, as well as Wikipedia. OBL may not have a CIA 401-k, medical, and dental plan, but he still may have worked for them as an independent contractor. There are other well documented cases of the CIA hiring people as independent contractors.
The beauty of independent contractors is, when somebody says, "that person used to work for you," you can say, "no they didn't," and not be lying. Technically, they aren't on your payroll.
It's just another in a long line of laws that America has created where seizing private property is the response.
To think, we used to have a fourth amendment to prevent that. Glad we got rid of that antiquated thing.
Will you be arrested for discussing the game with your friends over the water cooler?
Here in Chicago, baseball fans fly a white flag with a "W" on it whenever their team wins. Does this constitute a copyright violation since it essentially broadcasts the results of the game?
Well, if your going to post a dupe, at least post some new information about it. Like how to build one out of old hard drives.
The Chicago Cubs won over the St. Louis Cardinals 3 to 2.
[knock knock]
Hang on, someone is at the door.
Who is it?
The Copyright Cops
What's this about?
Descriptions of games are copyright of Major League Baseball. I'm afraid you'll have to come with us.
just wear a suit everywhere and buy a Vespa.
Oh yeah, don't forget to look out for rockers.
I make sure that if somebody Googles my real name, their first hit is my resume. Everything else is garbage.
the problem with assumptions is that they make an ass out of u and mptions
My school even built some solar powered hydrofoils for competition. They were quite successful.
Looks like the GP and at least one mod have some reading to do.
How would that thing handle waves? It seems like it wouldn't last quite so long in waters that aren't as calm as they are in Catfish Lake Montana.
That boat was purpose built for Catfish Lake. He has another one for the Atlantic.
if he had used a hydrofoil instead of a traditional boat design?
I'm not sure this is a technical innovation. I think he broke the record because he's just in really great shape.
Therefore, someone else would have to donate six times as much data as I need stored. For this to break even I would have to donate 86% of my hard disk to backup 14% (including system files that probably don't need to be backed up). I don't think people will go for that.
What worries me more is that the company may try to keep themselves in business through some sort of pyramid/Ponzi scheme (I don't know which one relates better to data) because people are unwilling to donate that much of their drive space.
Tungsten, with its high melting point, good strength at elevated temperatures, and low neutron absorption is very attractive from technological aspects, but building an entire reactor from it will hurt your bank account.
Precisely my point, steel is cheap because it's low strength at elevated temperatures makes it easy to work with.
To develop and test a material for nuclear applications is a very expensive procedure
What makes you think this 'Super Steel' won't need to be certified from the ground up? They are changing the composition to give it different properties. Those new properties mean you will have to throw that data you already have out the window.
Unless the NYFD could have obtained access to the floors and extinguished the fires the buildings still would have come down.
In my opinion, the fire departments of all major cities should have a helicopter capable of spraying fire fighting foam.
Once the steel was exposed to all that heat it was only a matter of time before it failed.
So called "fire-proofing" only buys time anyway. Even with the "fire-proofing" in tact it was only a matter of time before the structure failed. Although the extra time it provides is critical, as it gives firefighters a chance to put out the fire.
A more accurate term would be "fire-resistant".
Night time on the moon is kinda long (weeks). What do you do then?
Yup, but I thought that was why NASA was planning on setting up the moon base on one of the poles.
Unfortunately, your link is to a story with a date so it won't work.
Yeah, I know. It was unbelievably difficult to find that story, let alone one without a date (I had to use the date to find the story).
It would be kind of amusing to see the headline "Stock Market Slashdotted", but I'm also afraid some people might think I was acting in malice, and try to throw me in jail.
The point of this article eludes me.
You aren't the only one. If you want something that can retain it's strength at high temperatures, don't use steel. I recommend some sort of engineered ceramic, like tungsten carbide (which I believe is what you meant).
The article seems to ignore the fact that engineers see steel becoming weaker with heat as a benefit. If steel was always super strong at any temperature, how would you make anything out of it? Engineers currently utilize the "irregularities" (we call them dislocations) in steel to manufacture things. One such process is known as work hardening. When certain materials, like steel, are formed (bent, rolled, etc.) at low temperature, the dislocations propagate and move. The dislocations interact with each other, like tangling up a ball of yarn, making the material stronger. The component can then be heated to make further manufacturing easier, or left in it's cold worked state to make the finished part stronger. This property of steel is utilized around the world to make very strong, and inexpensive parts. A variety of other heat treatments are available to perform similar tasks.
In summary, the thermal properties of steel are considered a asset, because it allows us to manufacture things with high strength inexpensively. Using a material that is strong at all temperatures will increase costs. Such materials do exist but steel isn't one of them.
Disclaimer: If you find anything above factually incorrect, I was a C student in material science.